


Terra Pack; The Beginning.

by Lady_Fenikkusu



Series: The Dragwolf Migration [2]
Category: Godzilla - All Media Types
Genre: AUs and own idea, F/M, Gen, More tags to come when I think of them, Multi, Not Beta Read, cuteness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-08 06:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21231524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Fenikkusu/pseuds/Lady_Fenikkusu
Summary: This collection of stories details the lives of the pups born on Earth and their journy from puphood to first flight, a collection of short scenes shared between all the pups, each chapter is a small collection of moments from the perspective of the Dragwolves, rather than the humans as the first story is.Just to clarify for everyone, as the humans named the pups not knowing the Dire's could speak to them;Azure – ZeusCobalt – ThorFury – FenrirAlbin – SnowEnjoy!!!





	Terra Pack; The Beginning.

First Outings.

The birth of the pups was long and hard for the mothers, but it was over at last and the pups had learnt to get around on their own paws, granted the younger ones would still fall over when they tried to move too fast or too far. Over the following few days, the pups began to leave the den with their mothers, until only the smallest pup was left to leave the den. 

So, as the sun slowly crept up over the lake outside their den, the mothers went outside and lay down in the soft grass and waited for the pups to follow them. “Come Albin,” The quiet mother of the smallest litter called and in response the last pup gave another bark and finally managed to drag her tiny self out of the den, rolling down the slight dip and lay on ger back, her blue eyes blinking up at the sky, tiny paws trying to find purchase on the air.

“Ma!” The runt yapped. “Ma!”

“Roll.” 

The white pup stopped and blinked at the bigger and older black male of the scared mother’s litter at her side, “Roll?”

“Roll.” He repeated with a now and rolled over onto his own back and then back to his paws to show her what he meant. “Roll.”

“Roll.” The white pup said again and after a few failed attempts she looked to the big male for help again. The bigger pup lay on his stomach and pushed his nose under her back and very gently pushed at her body and at last the white pup flipped onto her own stomach and blinked at the black pup now right side up.

“Up?” He asked and stood up on his own paws.

“Up.” She repeated and managed to get her paws under her and stand, though she did stumble a few steps. The bigger black pup moved to her side and let her lean on him as he brought her to her mother.

“Is she hurt?” He asked.

“No little one, she is not hurt.” The mother assured, gently nosing her only female pup. “She just needs more time to grow is all.” 

“Not hurt.” The black pup repeated. “Just little.”

The innocence of the moment was not lost on the mothers often bigger pups would shun runts, even kill them if they didn’t take a liking to them but inside the den the three had been equal to all their pups and during those few days of blindness the pups had found and scented one another, they had slept together in one huge nest and always the little white pup was kept close to one of her brothers or one of the other bigger pups, never kicked or pushed away by any of the bigger or more developed pups.

When their eyes had started to open and the questions had come about the little white pup being the last to open her eyes and still not quite stand up without stumbling, the mothers had not called the little white pup a runt and instead called her ‘the little Albin’ their name for a small white star that marked the tip of a mountain on their home world and explained to their pups that she was just the last one born and so she would need more time to grow and catch up to them. 

‘Just small’ became the favoured way for other pups to rationalize what was said to them when they asked about Albin and it was accepted that with enough milk and time, Albin would no longer be ‘just small’ and she would grow as big as the rest of her den mates.

Eventually, with full bellies and exhorted from exploring the area in their own wobbly ways, the pups flopped down in the grass and the sun and slept under the watchful eyes of their mothers. 

“So many.” The scared one, Skoll as the humans called her breathed softly. “Have you thought of names for your litter?” she asked of the mated pair.

“So far only two of them.” his mate, Aura to the humans nodded and used her tail indicate to the largest of her litter, a female with golden fur and pink crystals peeking from her back and legs. “Shelass and this one,” She indicated to the only male of her litter that had brilliant blue crystals over his sides and his back, “Azure.”

“They are beautiful names.” The scared one said, Shelass meaning royal and Azure the name of an ancient Dire who had fallen in battle taking five Cycoline Primes down with him.

“Have you named yours?” He asked her.

“Cobalt,” the scared one said nodding to her own male pup with gray crystals over his siders and back then gently pointed her nose to where a pair of black and white pups were curled up together. “Yans and Yins.” Then she flicked her ear, looking to the big black male pup who had fallen asleep on his stomach the sun shining brightly on his red crystals, “and he is Fury.”

“Why Fury?” the quiet one asked looking at the black pup with a soft huff. “He is kind.”

“My mate lost his brother when they were pups, his name was Fury. It seems only fair in his memory that I respect his wishes to name one of his own pups after his brother as Cobalt was his name.” The scared one explained.

“He would be honoured to know two of his sons share the names of his litter.” The male said as he stretched his wings, letting the heat of eth sun warm them while the pups slept, knowing that when they woke, they would be full of newfound energy to explore and learn.

Human things.

Azure lifted himself up on his back paws, stretched as tall as he could and sniffed at the very strange looking thing that was wedged in the tree branches, it did not smell like another pup nor did it smell like the tree or the leaves but it made many strange sounds and moved all the time until it came to stop in this tree. It smelt of something strange and new, but it did not look like it was something he could eat or even play with.

“Ma? What is this?” he barked, and his mother padded over and sniffed at the thing with a light huff.

“It is a human thing,” She said gently nuzzling him before taking the thing in her teeth and tugging it free. “Come, we shall return it to them.” 

“They live near us?” Azure asked and padded after his mother.

“They study us, as we are not native to Terra.” Aura told him, bringing him to a large strange shell where more little buzzing things were resting, his mother gently placed the thing she’d pull out of the tree down and nudged it closer to an opening before nudging him away. “They like to learn things and as long as they stay away from us, we do not bother them or destroy their buzzing eyes.”

“Buzzing eyes?” Azure asked. “Is that what they are?”

“Yes, they watch us and make sure we are not hurting their people, sometimes the humans come closer and make tiny lines on leaves to take back into the big shell they live in.” Aura explained. “They are strange things, but we aren’t here to make this out home and thus, we do not need to concern ourselves with them.”

First snow.

“What is it?” Albin asked as she rolled and jumped and chased the falling white dust from the sky, joyfully laughing and panting as she darted back and forth in the cold air. “Is it cold rain?”

“Snow, Albin.” The Azure explained and pushed his paw into the snow that had settled on the ground to leave a perfect paw print. “It’s called snow.”

“Snow?” Albin repeated the word and then giggled as the snow began to come down faster and settle around them on the ground, every step she made leaving a print in the settled snow. “It’s amazing!”

Howling.

The music of the howl was said to be the one true gift all Dragwolves received from the Dire Alphas long since passed, a gift that even the smallest runt is blessed with should they survive to their first moon cycle.

Bori heard the song of the Terra Wolves singing to their lost Alphas and found it beautiful, different from his own kinds’ song but beautiful none the less, a song of grace and skill, of many notes that become one single harmony that is unbroken by distance or age. 

As the last echoes of the Terra song faded, Skoll lifted her head to the moon and began her song, the tone was slow deep and filled with morning for the loss of her mate, a tone echoed by Hati, her song was softer but no less painful to hear as the sorrow of losing their mates was revisited and channelled into their song to the Alphas of old. Aura joined them after a respectful pause, the loss of her family on this very world was healed and gone, but the song she sang to the Alphas was also filled with joy, joy that her pups had lived and were healthy, that her time here was not blighted by the Cycoline Primes and their Prides, Bori joined them in song at last, a song of thanks and praise to the Alphas who had given the mothers strength to birth the vast number of pups and the luck they had all found not to be sickly or weak.

Then came the pups.

Cobalt, Azure and Fury were easily found amongst the mass of howling music they created, a joyful sound of life and pride, of being witness to such wonders and dreams Terra gave them. the slightly off key but still harmonious short howls of Shelass, struggling to fit all her thanks into one long howl as her brother and den mates did, the echoing paired howls of the twins and the haunting triple note of the single set of triplets from Skoll’s litter.

There was another howl, slow and drawn out due to small lungs yet it did not stop and start as Shelass’s howls did, nor did it fade out and taper before raising back up, it flowed up and down, like the steady breathing of an elder Dire in her final days, singing to bless not just her pack, but her neighbouring packs as well. 

Skoll ended her song and lowered her head, turning to the pups to wait then end, her eyes bright with joy as her sons and daughters lead the song into its final passages, Hati and Aura laying down to enjoy the song f their children while Bori stood proudly aside his mate, watching Azure slowly fade from his song, soon followed by others, Shelass being the last of her siblings to finish while the litters of Skoll and Hati continued their final verses. 

Skoll watched Cobalt and Fury draw out their final notes, both males turning to look at their sister Ashabe as she slowly faded to silence, but the continued breathing howl continued to echo though the air, even as the twins and triplets fell silent. All pups turning as they finished to face the final seven singers, the eldest son falling silent first, then his brothers until only Albin, small and shining brightly in the glow of the moon remained, howling not through her nose by though her throat, the breathing notes of her howl how easier to hear and follow as she thanks the passed Alphas for her life, the lives of her litter mates and mother, but also for the farther she’d never known for the safety of the pack she’d never met, for her den mates and their families and their packs, for all that had been given and offered.

When her howl ended at last, it faded out into silence as she lowered her head. 

“How’d you do that?” Ashabe asked in a breathless voice. “That howl was, was.”

“Beautiful.” Cobalt said, “It was beautiful Albin, how did you do it?”

“I don’t know. I just, did?” Albin said, “I heard you all singing, lifted my head and just… sang with you.”

“It’s amazing.” Azure said and the pups around him nodded in agreement.

“It is?” Albin asked and looked at her mother who nodded.

“That howl is liken to what we Dires call the eternal howl, a technique that is difficult to learn, but even harder to replicate properly without practice, for you to have the technique naturally is simply proof that you are your father’s pup, a rare and special pup, my dear one.”

“He could howl like that too?” Fury asked in awe, “He must have been an amazing Dire.”

“He wasn’t a Dire.” Hati said, “Vential, the Fire Back, as he was known, was a simple Dragwolf hunter, I chose him as my mate after he defended my ailing mother from Cycolines when we were mid migration sixteen cycles ago, giving up my place in running for the rank of Beta leader in my pack. He was a kind male, and never tried to take power from the Alpha or cause trouble for the Betas and instead spent his days hunting for the pack and fighting to keep us all safe. He did not sing often, but when he did even the Alpha would fall quiet and allow him to lead the songs of the pack.”

“Was he like me?” Albin asked, “All white?” 

“No dear, he was the same colour as Gurn.” Hati smiled and nuzzled her eldest son whose fur was a dark brown with streaks of red and orange surrounding his red crystals. “But you have his eyes.”

“And his howl.” Bori smiled, “A beautiful sound I hope we shall hear again, when the moon is round again.” he added.

Albin nodded happily, her tail wagging as she was nuzzled and lightly pushed and nudged by her brothers.

Swimming Lessons.

When the pups began learning how to swim, it was clear that no all pups were naturally good at it, Azure, Cobalt, Fury, and several of the other big pups were able to swim a few laps of the lake, but others were unsure or water shy, and needed a little coaxing into the water. Albin padded into the shallows and watched the big pups swim.

“Are you going to try?” Cobalt asked as he floated by.

“I’m waiting.” Albin said.

“For what?” Cobalt asked then yelped as Azure ran into the water ahead of him and splashed them both with cool water. 

“Azure! Get back here!” Twin voices barked and a mating pair of black and tan pups charged by Albin into the water and raced after Azure into the water, splashing the two other pups as they went. “Sorry Albin! Sorry Cobalt!” they called back.

Albin chuckled as the twins chased Azure though the water, promising to dunk him under the water for whatever he had done to them. “For that to happen.”

Cobalt blinked then laughed. “How’d you know they were coming?”

“I saw Azure getting out of the lake and sneaking up on them.” Albin smiled and moved a little deeper into the water, “It feels kinda strange, being in water.” She admitted as she dared to leave the sandy bottom and started to paddle.

“Strange?” Fury asked as he swam by, followed by his twin siblings Yans and Yins, who were holding a twig between them.

“It’s like my body is being held by something, but its not painful.” Albin said as she swam by him, taking a moment to figure out how to use her body to direct her path before she continued, “this is harder than it looks.”

“You’ll get the hang of to it.” Fury assured, “Mother said it would take a few lessons to get use to swimming in the water, but we’ll get it.” 

“Hmm.” Albin said as she paddled a few feet into the water and began to swim in short circles, chasing her own tail for a few laps and then moved to chase her brothers as they paddled by, then chasing the tail of her mother.

Eventually her little body got tired out and she headed back to the shallows, not realizing she was a lot further out then the bigger pups had been and so by the time she reached the shallows she was panting, and her legs were wobbly as she staggered out of the water.

“What’s wrong Albin? Can’t keep up with the big pups?” Shelass mocked from her place up on some rocks above the other pups, her fur dry as she had not yet gotten into the lake at all.

“Swimming isn’t as easy as it looks.” Albin panted as she shook her fur out. “You’d know that if you bothered to try it.” 

Some of the other pups paused on the shoreline or in the shallows to watch the biggest and smallest female pups, recently Shelass had been pushing and shoving other pups around and saying nasty things to them, but this was the first time she’d said anything to Albin.

“I don’t need to know how to swim, Alphas already know how to do everything.” Shelass boasted.

“No one knows everything.” Albin huffed. “You’re just scared.”

“What!?” Shelass demanded, “I am NOT scared!”

“Then get in the water.” Azure said and ran out of the lake shallows and charged up the rocks to Shelass, snapping his teeth at the big female’s paws forcing her to back up until she lost her footing and fall into the water with a huge splash.

Frantic and whining in panic and fear, Shelass struggled to keep her head above the water for a good two minutes before Bori grabbed her in his teeth and dropped her on the grass. “He pushed me in!” She snarled.

Bori looked at Azure. “Did you?” he asked and Azure shook his head.

“She was teasing Albin, said Alphas know everything and when Albin said no one knows everything and Shelass was just scared, Shelass said she wasn’t, so I told her to get in the water and when she didn’t I ran up and snapped at her paws, she slipped off the rock and fell in.”

“Is this true?” Bori asked of Albin.

“He never touched her.” The little white pup affirmed. “He just ran up the rocks and snapped at her paws then Shelass stepped back and went splash.”

“So, you didn’t actually shove her?” Bori asked his young son, “You didn’t touch her at all?”

“No Pa.”

“They he did not push you in Shelass.” Bori said and looked down at his daughter, “You simply forgot to hold your ground. A mistake that no Dragwolf can afford to make in a fight. You have a lot to learn and you will not learn by pretending you are above the rest of your packmates.” 

“B-bu-but, but-” Shelass stuttered then helped as her father, mother and her siblings shook off their dripping fur over her, making all the other pups laughed at her as she ran off to the den to escape the water. 

Albin lay down in the sunshine to dry off.

“Well done.” Cobalt praised her lightly as he settled down with her. “For standing up to her.”

“Ma said if I stand up for myself, I can make her leave me alone.” Albin said, “since there won’t always be others to help me like today.” She added.

“I don’t get why she’s so off with you though.” Cobalt said, “I mean sure you are still kinda little, but you’re smart, fast, funny, you care about the pack, you are a better swimmer then any of us and you’re always happy to try new things.”

“She’s just being a bone head.” Azure told them as he came over and fell on to his side to enjoy the sun with a big yawn. “She’ll come around.” 

“And if she doesn’t?” Cobalt asked.

“Then she’ll be shunned.” Azure said, “worthless pack members don’t get to stay in the pack after all.” 

Tracking Lessons.

Fury sniffed the ground carefully, looking around the trees and then sniffed the air. “Odd.” 

“What is?” Ashabe asked as she sniffed the ground as he had.

“Cobalt’s scent is in the air, but it’s not on the ground.” Fury said.

“Did he double back this way to get away from Shelass and Azure?”

“Maybe.” Fury said, moving to sniff the tree bark then shook his head, “I’m not getting him on the trees either.” 

“No paw prints in the mud around the lake.” Ashabe said as she looked carefully at the muddy bank, “And no scent of him coming this way either.”

“So why can we smell him?” Fury asked and then barked three times out over the lake.

“What’s wrong?” Bori asked as he swam up.

“We found Cobalt’s scent, but its only in the air.” Ashabe explained, “Did we cross into Shelass and Azure’s hunt?” 

Bori shook his head. “Cobalt was here earlier in the day. It is a lingering scent.” The older male explained, “Keep hunting for your own target.” 

“Yes sir.” Fury nodded and began sniffing again for a different scent, one that also seemed to be very difficult to find.

Tracking lessons were fun, but to make it harder for the pups, the adult females had carried the ‘prey’ pups away from the den and into the tree line before setting them down randomly to begin their task of leaving trails and tracks to be found, however so far, only six of the ten hidden pups had been found and chased back to the den where they now lay enjoying the sun and waiting for their tur to be the trackers. 

Albin, Cobalt, the twins Yans and Yins were the only ones left to be found, Cobalt being tracked by Azure and Shelass, Albin by the triplets Dawn, Dusk and Twil, Yins by Juli and Mazmaz and Yans by Fury and Ashabe. It seemed easy, just follow the scent and find the pup, but while Albin and Cobalt were separate pups and from different litters, Yans and Yins shared their scent as twins and it was difficult to tell the two scents apart as neither twin was ever far from the other for long and thus everyone struggled to pick out Yans female scent from Yins male scent and it was difficult to find their tracks.

“Coming though!” Barked Cobalt suddenly from the trees and shot between Fury and Ashabe as Shelass and Azure chased after him like true Dragwolves on a hunt.

“Good luck!” Ashabe barked after them.

Meanwhile hidden and out of sight from the pups tracking them, Yans, Yins and Albin huddled in their shared hiding space behind a waterfall while listening to the triplets talk about who had the nicest fur coat. 

Pouncing Lessons.

Azure lay very still, trying very hard not to laugh as he watched Shelass fail to pounce once again, Albin was a few tails away from him with Fury and Cobalt acting as ‘prey’ while the two big males practiced their own pouncing, moving as fast as her paws would let her until one of the two males tried to pounce and catch her, so far both males had managed to catch her a number of times. 

Shelass wasn’t having any such luck though, she refused to be the prey until she had caught one of the other pups and while Azure wasn’t playing the game, he could see how much it was starting to annoy the others that they weren’t allowed to have their turn until Shelass got it right meaning most had moved off to play on their own or to watch the others to see if they could pick up some tips to improve their own pouncing style.

Albin laughed as Cobalt pounced, easily landing over her but not crushing her and gently pushed his nose to her head.

“You almost got away from me.” The older male chuckled and stepped back and gave Albin’s head a light lick in way of apologising for knocking her down. “You’re good at moving fast.”

“Can I try pouncing?” Albin asked.

“I don’t see why not.” Fury huffed, taking a moment’s break to scratch an itch. “Anyone want to be prey for Albin to try her pouncing?”

“I’ll do it.” Azure offered, standing up and shaking his fur out. “I haven’t been prey in this game yet.” He added.

Albin’s tail wagged happily and she gave the bigger pup chance to stretch his legs and paws after being laid down for a while and then began to stalk closer, her steps were light and didn’t stir the grass or dirt under paw, her tail down and her ears forward ready to listen for any sound ‘prey’ would make and even though being white made her ease to spot, she had a good stance. Azure moved back and forth, as if he was completely unaware she was there and when he thought Albin was going to pounce he ducked down, only to yelp in shock as her familiar weight knocked him onto his stomach and he felt her small body flop onto his back. 

“Well done Albin!” Cobalt barked proudly while Fury cackled at the sight of Azure laying on his stomach looking shocked while Albin lay flopped on his back, her fur proudly fluffed up.

“I did it! I pounced!” Albin howled. “I caught Azure!”

“He let you catch him, stupid runt!” Shelass snarled suddenly and the pups near by went silent, shocked and horrified at the bark from the biggest female.

“Shelass.” The big female whined and slowly belly crawled to where her father was stood, his gaze burning as his crystals flared in anger even as he led the female away.

Albin was silent for a long moment and then slide off Azure’s back and padded away from the other pups without a word, they watched the littlest pup crawled under her mother’s throat and stay there, the only sign she was even there the tip of her white tail.

“Albin?” Fury asked, crawling on his belly to get just a little closer to where he could see the tiny white tail.

“I’m sleepy.” Albin lied but Fury didn’t press for more and instead whined softly.

“We’ll save you some of the big food.” The bigger male promised before padding off his tail dragging a little.

“Albin?” Her mother said softly.

“I’ll never grow big, will I?” Albin asked after a few silent moments.

Her mother sighed and gently began to groom her pup. “No my dear one, you will never be big like Fury or Cobalt and you will never be as big as I am. But it doesn’t mean you are weaker than us.”

“Yes, it does.” Albin said, “Runts don’t live beyond their first year, because they get sick or they get hurt.” 

“Who told you this?” 

“I heard Shelass and Azure talking about it before. Azure said that no one in the pack was worthless and Shelass was rude and a bully to think of any of her den mates like that and Shelass just told him the runt would die because of sickness or injury someday. I didn’t know they were talking about me. Until today.” 

“Azure.” The gentle mother called out and after a moment the male pup peeked into the den, and then quietly padded to his mother and sat before her, worried he’d wake up Albin if he spoke too loudly. “Did you know Shelass saw Albin as a runt?”

The male pup whined and bowed his head low, “Yes Ma.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You and Pa said we had to sort out pup problems on our own because pups have their own ranks to adults until they are grown. I didn’t want to make trouble.” Azure explained laying on his belly in submission to his mother. “I want to be a good pup and a good friend to Albin, it wasn’t nice to hear Shelass say that about Albin but I thought by telling her she was a bully and a bad den mate she’d stop.”

Aura sighed and gently nuzzled her son assuringly. “Azure, calling another pup a runt is not just a pup matter, it’s an insult to Albin and to her mother. You should have told me Shelass had said such a horrid thing.”

“But Shelass she said you and Pa were going to make her Alpha of all of us so you wouldn’t care.” 

“That’s utter and total nonsense.” Aura barked. “Female Alphas are only recognized as such when and if they lose their mates before birthing their pups. Once she re-joins her pack she returns to her former rank. Pups can not be Alphas.” 

“Shelass says she is the Alpha because she’s the oldest.”

“That does not mean she is in charge, little Azure.” The scared mother said from her place and looked towards Albin and her mother. “Little Albin is small and while she may be a runt of a litter, that does not mean she is weak or worthless to her pack. She is only at risk of sickness and injury if her den mates allow her to be injured or allow her to fall sick by denying her milk. And from what I have seen, none of her brother nor the other pups of my litter or your siblings show any sign of hostility towards her.” 

“Shelass says it doesn’t matter what they think now because she’ll make them see how worthless Albin is.” Azure said shaking his head, “It’s all she talks about to Ashebe, Yans, Juli, Mazmaz and Dawn, Dusk and Twil. How she is going to be the Alpha of the pack and no one will challenge her and how Albin will die because she is weak and worthless. Ashebe and the others don’t listen, but it’s getting annoying.”

“Shelass has a lot to learn before she can be anything to a pack.” Aura said, gently licking her son’s head. “Go now, play with the others, we will deal with Shelass.”

“Yes Ma.”

Friends in the rain.

Shelass gave a small apology to Albin the following morning but it did little to improve the now tense air that hung between the two females. Albin had since chosen to stay away from the biggest female and ignore her, during games the small white pup was content to just play with her brothers, or with Cobalt and Fury when her brothers were play fighting, she did not go near Azure much, but the other male was content to be by himself and had started to wonder on his own, exploring the lakes around the den, spending time by himself to learn what was around them.

Her brothers were reluctant to leave her alone for too long, one of them was always close by keeping an eye on her and none of them let Shelass anywhere near the white pup, growling and shoving her away at every opportunity. 

During a sudden rainstorm Albin stayed in the sheltered grass under the trees by the lake side, watching the rain soak the ground as she laid down. She saw Fury and Cobalt rolling around in the mud, but didn’t move to join them, knowing that she could get hurt in their brotherly play fights now that they were starting to really test their skills. 

She had always known there was something different about her from the other pups, even if they did all say she was ‘just little’ something else had to be different because no matter what she ate or how much milk she had from her mother, she never grew big enough to stand ear to ear with her brothers or den mates, but they had always been kind and they were always willing to play with her. She always knew they were gentle with her, even when she tried to prove she could handle the hard hits they were gentle with her and when she asked her mother why, she’d just been told it was because she was still growing.

When Shelass had called her runt, everything had snapped into place and all the gentleness, all the kindness made sense. She was small because she was the runt, she was weak because she was the runt, she would never grow big enough to stand beside her litter and den mates because she was a runt. She knew from then on, that her life had been made easy because the adults had made sure she was accepted by her pack mates before they could open their eyes and see that she was so weak.

She huffed softly and closed her eyes, listening to the rain splash in the lake and onto the ground to make puddles. She heard someone coming towards her from behind, gentle paw steps and the rain-washed scent of den was all she needed to know it was one of her den mates, but she didn’t get up or turn to them as they came up beside her. 

“Do you enjoy the rain?”

“I like the sound of rain and the smell it leaves.” Albin admitted, looking at the golden furred female at her side, rose pink crystals peeking out from under a gray and white pelt while brilliant green eyes looked out over the water. Ashabe, one of Cobalt and Fury’s sisters whose name meant ‘blessed’.

“May I sit with you?” Ashabe asked kindly.

“You don’t have to ask.” Albin said, “Runts like me don’t have rights.”

“You heard about Shelass then?” Ashabe huffed and sat beside Albin, gently nosing her ear. “Don’t heed her, Albin, you are just as worthy to be here as any of us.” 

“Then why does she hate me so much? What did I do wrong?”

Ashabe chuckled, “She’s jealous of you.”

“Why?”

“Because you have a prettier coat then her, you have brighter eyes, are loved by not only your brothers but also by most of the males and Cobalt spends more time around you then he does anyone else.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Albin asked.

Ashabe smiled and shook her head, “Cobalt is a kind pup, a little rough when he plays chase and catch, but he never means to hurt anyone in those games, and he is extra careful not to hurt you. Shelass hates that.”

Albin blinked, “but why does that make Shelass jealous of me? I’m not forcing him to be careful.”

“I think Shelass wants Cobalt to pay attention to her and only her, like he did before you were born, but Cobalt is trying to be a good den mate and make sure you are ok like he does me, the twins and Viol. She’s been growling at them a lot recently too and she tried to take a snap at me before.”

“She did?” Albin asked in shock that any pup had tried to hurt or yell at Ashabe, the quiet and kind motherly pup who never said no to a game of chase or pounce or tail tag, the gentle female was practically a fourth mother to all pups!

“She didn’t expect me to snap back and tell her that if she dared to try and bully any pup again while I was around, I would rip her tail off and push her into saltwater.”

Albin blinked in shock. “You would do that?” 

“I will do what I must to protect my pack mates from danger.” Ashabe nodded, “Even kill another pup.” She added.

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I don’t want to lose a friend to the stupidity of a bully.” Ashabe said and lay down beside Albin and gently licked the smaller pup’s face. “You have a friend in me Albin and if that fluffball ever hurts you, I will stand with you.”

Albin wagged her tail and nodded in understanding, nuzzling close to the bigger pup as they lay in the shelter of the trees watching the rain while the males rolled in the mud.

First bite.

Bori returned from a hunt carrying a huge whale on his back and a shark in his mouth, the shark he dropped first and took the whale inside the den for later, letting the pups sniff and try to bit at the shark for themselves though their teeth and claws did not cut the skin as deeply as adult teeth and claws. 

Ashabe fell back from the shark with a loud whine and a pained yelp. Azure moving to see what had happened only to find one of the female pup’s teeth was stuck in the shark skin. Albin looked at the shark and padded around it, watching Shelass struggling to get a good hold and rolled backwards with a frustrated growl. 

“Fury, Cobalt.” She called, “Help me with this,” She added and nodded to the front of the shark.

“What do you need us to do?” Fury asked, moving to stand with her.

“Brace the body so it doesn’t roll or drag.” Albin said, grabbing as tightly as he could so the already made bite mark left by Bori.

“We’ve got it.” Cobalt assured with a growl.

Albin began to pull on the skin, she pulled and pulled and pulled feeling her teeth hurt and her paws struggle to find purchase on the ground but she didn’t let go, she pulled as hard and as much as she could, growling and snarling at the effort. Ashabe laid down in front of Albin’s back paws to give her something to push against as she pulled harder and then, just as it was becoming too painful to keep trying, the skin spilt and Albin stumbled back, ripping the skin away to show the muscle beneath.

“Well done Albin.” Azure praised and helped the small pup back to her paws, “You get first bite.”

“Me?” Albin asked with a confused blink.

“You got to the meat; you get first bite.” Cobalt nodded as he and Fury took hold of the torn sides of the skin and tugged it apart further. “You’ll have to teach us how to do that.”

Shelass growled deeply but said nothing to object, silently seething as Albin tore a chunk of the muscle from the shark for herself and then went back in and tore a bigger chunk free and offer it to Ashabe. Cobalt settled down beside the two females with Azure and Fury when they had finished helping get more meat out for all the pups first.

Weakness.

Their parents had been howling for hours now, sharing in a song that made their small bones shake and tremble as they listened, and while in the past the howling had soothed them, now it only made them worry more.

The triplets, all the twins, Azure, Cobalt, Fury and Albin had all become suddenly short of energy and struggled to keep up with their usually games and races for long anymore, having to lay down and sleep for longer than anyone else. Shelass had jumped on the sudden weakness and begun teasing Albin, only to have Ashabe, Mazmaz, Juli and Viol jump in and send the big female running off to lick her imaginary wounds.

It was late in the night when Azure woke to see Shelass being led into the den by their father, she looked angrier than usual, but she didn’t dare to look up at anyone and instead lay down and curled up to sleep without supper time food.

“She will apologise to Albin when the pups are awake,” he heard his father promise the quiet mother, his head bowed to her in shame. 

“They are a Pack, if they do not learn to accept all their strengths, they could well die.” The scared mother huffed sadly. “Albin cannot help that she is small, but that doesn’t mean any bigger pup has the right to bully her into an Omega rank.”

“She is not an Omega.” His father huffed softly. “She is special, above the rank of others and if Shelass cannot see that, they she is going to learn the hard way why no pack survives a cruel member.”

“Hopefully she will learn her lesson quickly.” Azure’s mother said, “I will not tolerate such cruelty from my pups towards another.”

“Let us hope she learns it while we are away,” Bori sighed, “Once they have all grown and developed, they will begin to fight for rank with more than just words and we can no longer intervein.” 

“I hope it does not come to that.” Hati sighed and gently nuzzled her white daughter. 

Babysitters.

“You’re going away?” Azure asked looking at his parents with a confused whine the following morning. “Why?”

“We need to gather enough radiational matter in our Crystals for you to feed on to give you a jump start in growth and development,” Aura explained with a gentle nuzzle to her son’s fur. “The sooner we do this, the sooner we can leave this world and re-join our packs.”

“We’re not all from the same pack?” Fury asked looking at his mother. “We’ll not be a pack anymore?”

“By the time we re-join our packs, you will all be old enough to wonder and form your own packs. You are not bound to Alphas we are and as you have lived this long as a pack without a true Alpha you are not expected to fall into ranks as we are.” Skoll explained. “Likely when you are ready to leave this place, you will have an established rank and order, you will not need to stay with us.”

“But… we can still visit you,” Albin asked, looking up at her mother, “Your Alpha’s won’t attack us if we come by to see you sometimes, right?” 

“Pups are always welcome to see their parents, as long as they are respectful to the Alpha of their parent’s pack.” Hati assured her little daughter with a gentle lick as she tested her wings. “You will always be welcomed with me my dear ones.” 

“So,” Cobalt began, “Who is going to watch over us while you are all away?” he asked with a glance at Shelass.

“The Rulers of Terra.” Aura smiled and together the four Dires lead their pups out of the den, ears high and shoulders proudly set as if waiting to greet someone as Aura howled into the air.

The ground trembled under paw, and from the salt waters, a deep echoing groan made all the pups tremble as the owner of that groan lumbered closer to their den, every step made the earth tremble until the giant beast stood before the pack, his golden gaze slowly passing over all of them.

“King of Terra’s Titans.” Aura greeted and bowed her head low in respect to the great ruler before her an action her mate and the other mothers mimicked without hesitation

The great beat of wings and a gentle warmth suddenly fell over the land, a new song slowly growing louder until a great moth with painted wings glided overhead, coating the lands in gentle speckles and flakes of energy that flourished into flowers and trees life all around the den as she landed calmly atop it.

“Wow.” Azure breathed in awe of the huge moth.

“Queen of Terra’s Titans.” Aura introduced as she bowed her head to the moth with a grateful huff.

“You will not be gone too long?” the Queen asked in a gentle hum.

“No longer than two days of this world.” Aura nodded, “We know of a planet in this system that is coated in radiation, it will feed us well and allow us to store up food for our young to develop faster.”

“Then go,” the great king bid with a light growl as he lay his huge body down outside the den.

“Behave yourselves for the Rulers of Terra, and do not think they have not been told they have our permission to deal with your misbehaving.” Bori told his litter while Skoll gently nuzzled her pups and gave them a similar warning.

“You will come back, right?” Albin asked.

“Always.” Hati promised her littlest pup with a gentle nuzzle. “Stay safe my dear ones.”

Albin whined softly but nodded, watching the four Dires open their wings and take a few running steps before leaping into the air, climbing higher and higher until they were four small dots fading into the clouds. 

The Rulers of Terra.

The buzzing eyes were very careful not to get too close to the King and Queen, but the pups had no sure fear, when they got over the shock of just how big and how much stronger then their parents the two rulers of Terra were, they began to ask questions and inspect the two rulers with awe and amazement, the Queen’s wings were like nothing they had ever seen before but they seemed to understand that they were not to touch the coloured limbs, though Albin did ask how so many colours could be so perfectly matched. 

The King was amused by the questions, reminded of the days Aura had been young and small and asked him many of the same things, though her brothers had been bolder and daring, one of them even going as far as to climb on the King’s fore arm to prove he was not afraid of the huge Titan, these pups were far more cautious but no less bold. 

“Did you really help mother fight a Cycoline?” One of the pups asked.

“Her family had been preparing to leave to protect her and her brothers from danger when the Cycoline Prime and her pride attacked them. I had watched over them, seen their intentions were to leave and take as little from my world as possible and I refused to allow them to be slain by such foul creatures as those winged kittens.” The King said. “I was, sadly not able to save her brothers or her mother, my aid came too late to save them, but it was enough to give her father the advantage against the beasts.”

“Mother said you fed them.” Another said.

“I brought great whales from the deep depths after they allowed my Queen to rest in their small den while she recovered from an injury.” He nodded.

“Wow.”

“Are there other Titans like you?” the littlest white pup asked.

“Few are like us.” The Queen explained, “We are not as many as you, but we are all from a time when our world was overflowing with radiation that could feed us easily, now that there is less many of our numbers slumber and those who remain awake act as a force to maintain order and balance with the humans.”

“So, the reason we haven’t seen other Titans is because they are all asleep.” Albin said, “I guess, that would explain it.”

“Explain what little one?” The queen asked.

“The Dires say that there are many Titans here, some that fly, some that crawl, some that make the ground shake with every step, but we haven’t seen any of them, If they are all asleep it makes sense that we haven’t seen them.” she said then yawned and shook her head. “Sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for child, you all need your rest and time to recover from all your playing.” The great moth assured.

“We’ve been feeling tired a lot recently.” Azure huffed as he flopped down on to his belly, “Mother says it’s because we are ready to develop so our bodies are trying to feed on radiation that isn’t there yet so we’re getting tired.”

“Two days and we’ll be ok.” Fury yawned. “Until then, sleeping, eating and behaving sounds easy.” He added.

Mothra and the pups.

Mothra watched the Dragwolf pups with a light chitter, using her wings to lightly stir the lose leaves and petals of the season up for the pups to chase, her higher vantage point allowing her to watch all the pups as they either played tug a bone or chase, swam in the lakes or those more daring pups played rough biting and tugging each other’s ears and tails pushing one another over and growing in mock challenge. 

Several of the pups were laid together in the sun, their crystals were dull and seemed to be fogged up, a sign the Dires had explained meant they were starting to crave Radiation, but due to their young age they were not able to seek it themselves, and so they instead became weak and often slept to conserve what radiation they had within and take in solar energy to keep their bodies active. They could survive like that for up to one month in human terms, but then they would become savage and attack anything that could feed them, other pups, highly volatile rocks in space or even the core of stars.

It was worrying to see the sleeping pups so weak as their siblings and den mates ran around and played with such careless abandon. But Mothra could sense that the pups were safe and stable even as they sluggishly got to their paws and moved around, playing small games, nibbling on small bites of food flopping into the sun light again to sleep.

She watched the smallest pup, white as snow and clearly determined to do whatever she had gotten up to do, slowly pad then bally shuffle towards one of her den mates, nosing them with a gentle whine. The pup gave a soft whine in return and gently nudged the white pup, who belly shuffled away gently repeated her action to the other weakened pups. Checking on them, Mothra realized, the white pup was checking on her fellow pups, even when she was in no better state.

With a gentle hum, the Queen of Terra lifted her wings to stretch them but also cast a wave of warmth and energy from her body, softly washing the area in her power and energy. The pups who had been sluggish and slow easily absorbed the energy she sent out in small amounts and each one turned to her with a thankful bow of their heads, the white pup wagged her tail and bowed to the Queen. 

She would miss these pups when they were grown and gone from her world, but Mothra knew she would never forget them.

Godzilla and the pups.

That the four Dire Dragwolves had raised so many pups and the runt had survived was a testament to the skill these visitors held when given the shelter and time to truly tend their young. He knew from his past time with their kind that normally a litter of pups as large as Aura’s would have been killed off by Cycoline or even killed by other pups in the den due to the hostility of their lives, for the huge pup pack to have made it this far and not killed one another mean that the Dires had been at ease, calm and content to share their den and support one another as sisters rather than rivals from different packs.

The results were clearly beneficial for them, as their pups were all healthy, strong and energetic enough to make him wonder just how the four adults kept track of them all so well.

He did not mind the little ones climbing over his tail in a game of chase, nor did he mind the rough housing that was happening at his side, though his attention was focused on the game of tug a bone in front of him, so far the bone had held but he could see the small splinters of bone starting to fall off. Both pups fall back with a startled bark looked at the two halves of the bone, then at each other and laughed. As the sun began to set, the pups began to yawn and huff, slowly padding into the shelter of the den to sleep in pairs of small groups, soon only the light snuffles and whines of sleeping pups could be heard from inside the den and he smiled, moving to lay near the entrance to protect it.

He looked to his Queen and smiled knowing that the chance to watch over young ones was a rare and glorious gift she was often denied as her own unique life cycle was one of death and rebirth, she maintained the memories of all her past lives, good and bad short and long, and while she could birth her own egg, if she failed to do so her rebirth could take centuries or even a complete millennia for her to gather the energy to activate one of the hidden eggs that had been scattered around the planet in the years of plenty. He would offer her the chance to have her own young if he could, but their place as King and Queen did not include creating an heir as they both had their own unique alternatives to eternal death. His kind could die but only if they suffered enough damage to prevent them returning to their den to regenerate a feat that so far, only Ghidorah and more recently the humans had accomplished.

“I know that look.” She told him and he chuckled.

“Watching over young ones is a refreshing change to the usually duties we face, it makes me wonders what it would be like to do so as a parent, rather than as a guardian.” He admitted. 

“Maybe one day, we will know.” She offered with a soft chitter.

“Maybe.” He nodded looking at the pups as they slept through the night, the gentle songs of the night keeping the den space and the area around them calm and peaceful. “Maybe.”

The Dires Return.

The pups were up and running around before the sun was finished rising the following day, some going to the lake others took to playing chase and tug a bone while some dared to ask the King if he would let them practice climbing on his back as they had been told stories by their mother about creatures that were a big as him but were not as kind hearted and it would be an advantage for them to know how to climb on such a huge creature. The King agreed, but from time to time would move his body just a little to make the climbing harder for them while Mothra used her wings to send leaves and petals fluttering around for the pups to chase.

Around midday all the pups stopped suddenly and lifted their ears high, listening to something the King and Queen could not hear and then quickly they moved to help the weaker pups into the den.

“What is it?” the Queen asked.

“Ma and Pa are coming back.” One of the weaker pups said with a weak whine.

The King nodded and stood tall, watching the sky carefully and sure enough, four dot appeared, each one burning brightly with radiation as they came closer and closer, running as they flew. Dire Hati came down first, her paws carrying her into the den with ease seconds before Dire Skoll padded swiftly after her, Dire Aura and then at last Dire Bori. One of the human’s flying eyes came by the King’s head, but he ignored it, watching silently as the Dires lay down and the weakest pups bit onto their crystals, the radiation swiftly spreading from parent to pups as more of them latched onto the crystals.

“A Mass Feeding.” Mothra said, “can all your race do this?”

“If we must.” Bori nodded, “Our kind are hunted by Cycolines to claim territory, the Coilers and many others who target the young ones for easy meals, but once we are adult sized the attacks lessen until we are full grown. Then only the Cycolines and desperate Coilers would try to attack us.”

“So, it helps them grow faster.” The King said.

“And helps them to develop their wings for flight later in life.” Hati explained, smiling as her pups Crystals began to pulse with light to show their heart beats.


End file.
